The present invention relates to a method of producing a flexible carrier substrate for a photovoltaic solar generator wherein a polyimide film, for example such a film sold under the trademark KAPTON, which is disposed on a heatable lamination table, is coated with an adhesive and hardened whereupon, after the application of an adhesion promoting layer, a glass filament fabric is placed onto the polyimide film and is subsequently saturated with a silicone adhesive.
A flexible solar generator is known in which a plurality of photoelectric solar cells are arranged on a substrate that can be wound into a roll. The solar cells are electrically conductively connected with one another in parallel and series connections by means of connectors punched out of a rolled material (see German Patent No. 2,160,345). The direction of winding of the substrate is the direction of the parallel connections, with separate connectors being provided for the parallel connections and for the series connections. The connectors are configured in such a manner that the direction in which their material was rolled is the direction in which the respective connections are made.
The required strength of this flexible solar generator system is realized with respect to the carrier material in that the windable substrate serving as the carrier is composed of a polyimide film to which glass filaments are glued. Several adhesives suitable for space travel conditions, for example thin-flowing adhesives which are stable up to 10 to 12 Torr and in a temperature range from -180.degree. to 100.degree. C. are selected, for example polyester adhesives containing a large amount of solvents so as to produce good wetting of the glass filament fabric and good adhesion of the fabric to the polyimide film. A layer of glass filament fabric is glued to the polyimide film in such a manner that initially the layer of glass filaments is placed onto the polyimide film and then the adhesive is applied in a very thin layer. After hardening of the adhesive, there results a substrate which is still sufficiently flexible but whose strength characteristics have been improved considerably. Instead of the above-mentioned adhesives, solvent-containing silicones can be employed for temperature ranges from -60.degree. to +260.degree. C. with which good bonds are realized between the glass filament fabric and the polyimide film. The solar cell modules and strings are glued to the resulting substrate by means of appropriate adhesives.